I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 240 The person who only sends you group messages during holidays was once a close friend with whom you could talk about anything.

"Lord Hokage."

Inside the Hokage's office, Tatsuma, dressed in his Anbu uniform but with his mask on, looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi's inscrutable expression with great confusion.

"You're here?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to only then notice Tatsuma in the Hokage's office. He blinked for a moment before snapping out of his daze and speaking to Tatsuma.

Then came another brief silence. Tatsuma gently raised his head, wanting to break the eerie silence, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, seemingly having prepared his words, spoke:

"There's some progress on the matter of Kushina Uzumaki being kidnapped."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma also showed a curious expression. Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't keep him in suspense, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table a few times before saying, "You should know about the AB combination from Kumogakure, right?"

The AB combination of Kumogakure is A, who inherited the name of Kage, and B, who inherited the name of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. The current AB combination is A, the Third Raikage of Kumogakure, and B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Frubi.

Unlike the later Fourth Raikage A and Killer Bee, the Third Raikage A and Brubi had a huge age difference. This is because the pairing conditions for the AB combination are extremely demanding, and each generation of Raikage needs a very long time to find their own Bee.

Brubi is only fifteen years old now. It has only been three years since Konoha learned that he was the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and this information was obtained through intelligence theft.

No Konoha spies ever actually saw Brubi, and after becoming a Jinchuriki, Brubi never appeared in the public eye, as if it were a deliberately fabricated piece of fake news.

However, Tatsuma frowned in confusion. He didn't understand how this had anything to do with Kushina being kidnapped. He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and nodded, then waited for Hiruzen to continue.

Hiruzen Sarutobi reached for the pipe, but stopped midway, saying, "Three years ago, it should have been the day Brubi became the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, but the same..."

Just three years ago, Ai's son also began his own "Bee" selection process. In the past three years, Brubi hasn't taken any action, but this next generation of the AB duo has certainly made quite a few moves.

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Tatsuma immediately had a guess in his mind. After Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, he added, "Does the Hidden Cloud Village not think highly of Burubi as the Eight-Tails' Jinchuriki?"

It is indeed strange that the selection of the next Jinchūriki began at the same time as Burubi became a Jinchūriki, and this also seems to explain why Kumogakure went to great lengths to abduct Kushina.

Because both the Uzumaki clan's physique and their sealing techniques are the best choice for a Jinchuriki, and Kushina is the alternative that Kumogakure wants.

Since Brubi could not become the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki in the eyes of Kumogakure, the selection of the next Brubi began. At the same time, they also needed a more reliable "vessel".

Kushina is the perfect candidate. As a "vessel," she may not gain the trust of the Hidden Cloud Village, let alone become "Bee," but she can become a vessel to store the Eight-Tails when the Hidden Cloud Village is unable to control it.

If something happens to Burubi, and the new "Bi" is unable to shoulder the responsibility, and the village cannot find a more suitable "Bi" for the time being, then Kushina can be put to use to keep the Eight-Tails safe for a period of time until the village finds a better candidate.

Furthermore, Kushina would be the best candidate to become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha. If the Hidden Cloud Village's operation succeeds, it will not only provide an extra layer of protection for their own village, but also bring huge trouble to Konoha.

Only with such profits could Kumogakure dare to take the risk of colluding with the "rogue ninja" of Iwagakure to enter Konoha and kidnap Kushina.

Seeing the change in Tatsuma's expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that this outstanding young man had thought everything through. Tatsuma regained his composure and asked, "Hokage-sama, what should I do?"

"Our village needs to know the current situation of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. If possible, we should make some noise to warn Kumogakure."

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's instructions, Tatsuma pursed his lips. This mission was ridiculously difficult, far beyond his capabilities.

He had no idea where Brubi was. Although he had some ideas, finding Brubi was already a major problem. Furthermore, Brubi's own strength, along with the protection he received from Kumogakure, was definitely beyond Tatsuma's ability to handle.

Under these circumstances, finding out anything about Brubi was already incredibly difficult, but Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't satisfied and even wanted to cause some trouble.

However, as a member of the Anbu, Tatsuma had no right to refuse such a mission, and could only try to express in a tactful way that he really couldn't do it.

Before he could even think of what to say, Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have already heard his thoughts and said, "I would not make things difficult for you with such a difficult mission. You are not in charge of this mission."

The one truly in charge is Sakumo, and your task is to assist Sakumo in completing this mission.

However, for this mission, besides you, I only recommend Woodpecker to participate in your team. Earwigs and Wild Vultures are not suitable. You should understand, right?

Upon hearing that Sakumo Hatake was in charge of this mission, Tatsuma breathed a sigh of relief. With Sakumo Hatake around, at least the safety of this operation was assured.

Given Sakumo Hatake's personality, even if something unexpected happens during the mission, saving his teammates would definitely be his top priority.

Thinking of this, Tatsuma breathed a sigh of relief, wondering if he was the teammate who caused Sakumo Hatake's death. But he quickly dismissed the thought.

The timeline doesn't match up. It's still early. Kakashi hasn't even enrolled in school yet. There are at least two years left before Sakumo Hatake's incident. There's plenty of time to take things slowly.

As for Hiruzen Sarutobi calling Sakumo Hatake by his full name instead of his code name, Tatsuma wasn't surprised. After all, as the captain of the Dark Guard, Sakumo Hatake's code name no longer served any purpose of concealment.

After the Second Shinobi World War, everything about Hatake Sakumo had been exposed. Whether he showed his true face or wore an Anbu uniform and mask, everyone knew he was Hatake Sakumo.

His reputation is already too strong to suppress, and any pretense would be considered artificial, so now Sakumo Hatake simply stops pretending altogether.

Hiruzen Sarutobi tacitly agreed to this, since Sakumo Hatake was already over thirty and wouldn't be able to stay in the Anbu for much longer. Letting him gradually return to a normal ninja life was a good option.

As for Hiruzen Sarutobi's suggestion to only involve Mokuto, that is, Minato, Tatsuma understood. After all, there are only two people in the village who can use the Flying Thunder God Technique: himself and Minato.

Their mission is to cause trouble in Kumogakure. No matter how strong Hatake Sakumo is, once he is surrounded, it will be difficult for him to escape safely.

If two ninjas who have mastered space-time teleportation techniques accompany the team, the team's chances of survival and mission completion will be greatly increased.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's idea was that Sakumo Hatake would be responsible for completing the mission, while Tatsuma and Minato would handle any unexpected situations.

Having figured everything out, Tatsuma nodded and accepted the order, saying, "Yes, Hokage-sama. I will inform the team members. When will the mission commence?"

"Go back and prepare first. You can discuss it again when Sakumo returns."

Hatake Sakumo has been very busy lately. He has been carrying out most of the difficult tasks of the Anbu alone or leading a small team. He is probably still fighting somewhere in the ninja world right now.

Tatsuma didn't inquire about the details. Although they were both from the Anbu, their authority differed. He might not have been authorized to know about the missions that Hatake Sakumo had carried out.

After leaving the Hokage's office, Tatsuma told the rest of his team about the new arrangements. Earwig and Aragaki had no objections; they were used to being seconded as part of a team that specialized in handling corpses.

They expressed their understanding upon hearing that the class monitor and one of the class members were to be temporarily transferred.

As for Minato, since he was one of the people participating in the mission, Tatsuma also revealed some details of the mission. Upon hearing that he could team up with Sakumo Hatake to carry out the mission, Minato was extremely excited.

It wasn't until Tatsuma reminded him that the two of them had almost had their innocence defiled by Sakumo Hatake nine years ago that Minato calmed down.

"Time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were ninja academy students favored by the Hokage and Sakumo-sama. I never imagined that in the blink of an eye, we would be able to carry out missions with Sakumo-sama."

Sitting on the hard, unyielding rock, Minato, feeling somewhat safer, said to Tatsuma with a touch of emotion, "..." Tatsuma smiled and nodded, saying:

"In the blink of an eye, ten years have almost passed. How many decades does one have in a lifetime? We're about to spend one of them together."

It is rare to have a friend who can accompany you for ten years. Most friends can only accompany you for a few years, especially during the student years, such as three years of junior high school, three years of high school, or four years of college.

Once the friendship that was tied to academic studies ends, the shelf life of the friendship will be shortened rapidly. The good friends who must chat for half a day every day will become idle contacts in the address book who only send mass holiday greetings.

Having a good friend you can spend ten years or more with, and whose friendship hasn't faded, is definitely a great treasure in life.

After a brief moment of reflection, Minato stood up, regaining his previous excitement, and asked Tatsuma, "Tatsuma, do you think we need to make any special preparations for this operation?"

I haven't been to the Land of Lightning yet, so I don't know much about their lifestyle. I hope I won't hold you back.

"I haven't been there either. There's a discussion meeting before the mission officially starts. We'll ask Lord Sakumo for advice then."

The lack of understanding that the two mentioned was not the kind of lack of understanding that ordinary people would imagine. If a set of questions about the customs of the Land of Lightning were given, the two of them would definitely get full marks. However, many details and practices cannot be answered by the content of books.

After finishing his business with Minato, Tatsuma went to find Orochimaru, as there were still some things he needed to explain to Dan Kato.

But as soon as he stepped into Orochimaru's lab, he heard Orochimaru say, "I heard you're going to deal with the Eight-Tails?"

Tatsuma was taken aback. He had only recently learned of this news and had only told Minato. How did Orochimaru know about it?

Orochimaru didn't wait for Tatsuma to ask a question, and simply said, "Jiraiya and I both have our own intelligence networks. He focuses on areas outside the village, while I focus more on areas inside the village, so don't be surprised."

Upon hearing this, Tatsuma nodded without asking any further questions. Orochimaru didn't dwell on the topic either, but instead took out a small bottle and said:

"These are the results of some small experiments I did in my spare time. They're hallucinogenic drugs that even a tailed beast jinchūriki might not be able to withstand. Take them; you never know when you might need them."

As Tatsuma looked at the hallucinogenic drug in Orochimaru's hand, three words suddenly came to mind.

Pornography! Gambling! Drugs!

Is this all there?

I'm still incredibly dizzy, can't fall asleep, and can't stay awake; I feel numb.

(End of this chapter)